BENGALURU: A city-based IT professional, sent to Australia on a project work, was stabbed to death in Sydney in a suspected mugging bid. The incident took place at 3 pm (IST) on Saturday, when Prabha Arun Kumar, 40, was walking home from work. She was on phone speaking to her husband Arun Kumar, as she usually does while returning from work.
She had told Arun over phone that a man has been following her while at the park located near her residence. Seconds later, Arun heard Prabha pleading, “Take whatever you want, please don’t hurt me” and also “he stabbed me”.
The phone got disconnected at this juncture.
A resident of Basaveshwarnagar here, Prabha was sent by her employer Mindtree to Sydney on a one-year assignment. But it was later extended to two more years. Her husband Arun runs an IT company here. They have a nine-year-old daughter Meghana.
Arun’s nephew Thrijesh Jayachandra said they were first told that Prabha was recovering. However, while Arun was on his way to the airport late on Saturday, they heard the news that she had died. Arun had earlier visited Prabha a few times and had a valid visa. Thrijesh claimed that their emails and messages to External Affairs Ministry went unanswered.
“We were lucky that Arun had a valid visa. If not, the entire process may have been delayed. There is a toll-free number of the Australian embassy in India. But nobody answered this number either,” he claimed.
“The Australian country head of Mindtree has been coordinating and keeping us updated. But he has his limitations as Australian Police have rules not to share details, except with close family members,” Thrijesh added.
Prabha’s brother lives in Perth, a six-hour journey from Sydney.